


Haunted

by xaphrin



Category: Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Vampire Dami and Demon Witch AU, because dami is bad at emotions, in which there is some pain they need to work through
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-10-26 18:55:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20747093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xaphrin/pseuds/xaphrin
Summary: Damian finds himself knocking on the veil between death and life when he's cursed by a vampire. His best option is to go back to Raven, but he's burned bridges that he's not sure if he can repair them. And Raven knows there's not a request Damian can ask that she can refuse.





	1. Chapter 1

“I… made a mistake.” 

Raven lifted her eyebrows and looked over him, her lips curling up at the edges.  _ Perfect _ Damian Wayne, making a mistake?  _ Never. _ Blinking, she leaned against the door frame leading into her shop, and stared at him. He was  _ quite a sight _ in front of her, the dingy lights of midnight in Gotham lighting up the space behind him, rain pouring down into his eyes. Something about the shadows in his eyes was making her uncomfortable, like there was a secret he was trying to tell her without saying anything at all.

Raven crossed her arms over her chest and looked down the darkened alley, seeing one of her regular customers stop and stare at her and Damian before moving on, pretending to look somewhere else. She didn’t really blame him for running away, Damian had shot up like a weed in the years after she’d left the team, and his massive form nearly blocked out the entirety of her entry door. In the flickering street lights and neon signs, he probably looked like the kind of nightmare that haunted you forever. 

She sighed and tilted her head to the side, watching him. “And what do you expect  _ me _ to do about it? I thought you were handling this all on your own.”

His lips twitched and he looked away, shame coloring his cheeks. “I need a favor. A big one this time.”

“ _ Of course _ you do. That’s all I’m good for anymore, isn’t it? Favors you’re too anxious to ask Constantine for.” She puffed out her cheeks, trying to control the sudden burst of anger flooding her. At the end of the alley, a transformer sparked before going out, bathing them in the inky shadows that stretched their spindly fingers towards Raven. 

Raven took a deep breath and let it out slowly, it wouldn’t do her any good at all to be angry with him, even if she wanted to. She stood there, trying to weigh her options as her eyes searched his blank expression. Honestly, she had already done far too many favors for him in the past few years, and he was getting close to maxing out his quota. But still… their long (and very messy) history kept her from immediately pushing him away from her and out of her life -  _ again _ .

He would always be her weakness, and that was something she was going to have to accept. 

A long moment passed between them, uncertain if she should move forward and let him back into her life or not. But, she knew the answer. She knew exactly what she was going to do the moment she saw him in front of her shop door, eyes pleading with her like he was some kind of beaten pet. 

“ _ Fine. _ ” She flicked a lock of hair out of her eyes and sighed, taking a step into her shop, motioning for him to follow her. “Come on in. Let’s take a look at you and see what we can do to fix whatever you did.” 

She waited until he was standing in the small, open space in the middle of her shop before she flipped the lock on her door and turned the sign hanging on the door to  _ closed _ . Damian shed his jacket and set it on the counter, looking around the shop, as if intrigued by all the bottles of tinctures and tonics on the wall - bits of magic carefully enclosed in glass and steel. He reached out and touched a display of chintzy love charms next to the cash register. They lost all the magic within a day, but the high school girls who came into the shop on a dare usually bought them for fun.

“Why are you here?” Raven sighed and took a step towards him, her eyes narrow. “You made your point loud and clear last time we saw each other.”

“That’s not-” Damian looked at her and sighed. “Raven, however you interpreted our last…  _ meeting _ -”

“ _ Fight _ . It was a  _ fight _ , Damian.” Raven bit back a curse and glared at him, halfway tempted to open the lock on her door and shove him back into the alleyway. Her patience was wearing thin, he  _ had _ to have seen that. “And  _ you _ kicked me out of the tower, in case you need a reminder of what happened. The minute Kory left and you took over the rest of the team, you cleaned house faster than anyone expected.”

“I didn’t  _ clean house _ , and I wasn’t trying to kick you out. That was never the intention. I was just  _ worried _ about you. You were upset and you were growing volatile.” He seemed to realize that was not the right thing to say, and he glanced away. “I didn’t mean-” 

“ _ Volatile? _ I was growing  _ volatile?  _ For fucks sake, Damian, you were changing everything around me!  _ Everything _ changed. Kory and Dick were leaving, Gar was talking about going back to the Doom Patrol, Jaime already had one foot out the door, and Conner and Cassie were already picking out new recruits. I was just getting used to having a  _ home _ and having  _ stability _ , and having  _ you _ as my best friend. And then everything was changing all around me so suddenly.” She looked away, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to bring her temper down and keep herself together. She didn’t want to be reminded of her last days at the tower, those wounds were still fresh even though years had passed. “I didn’t need a leader, I needed a friend to tell me everything was going to be okay. I needed  _ you _ most of all, and you practically told me to pack my shit and leave.” 

He winced and ran a hand over his face. “I was young and stupid. I didn’t… I thought being a leader meant control, Raven. I thought that if I could keep a short leash on everyone, we would work better and smarter and I was wrong.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, lifting his eyes to hers. “I was wrong, Raven.  _ So wrong _ , and I know that now. If I could go back and make everything right, I would. I would do whatever I could to fix this. To make you see that I should have never betrayed your trust.”

Raven heart ached, somehow feeling empty and full at the same time, and she felt herself immediately disarmed. Her eyes searched his face, the years between them suddenly disappearing, and she sighed, her fingers running over his jaw. She felt a scar near his ear, an old wound she remembered him getting from a mission when they were still a new team. Damian looked into her eyes, and his head tilted to the side, almost as if he were leaning into her touch. 

“We’re past that, Damian. You can’t fix something that happened in the past, you can only move forward.” She pulled her hand away and let silence settle over both of them again. There was a slow rumble of thunder in the distance, a warning of an oncoming storm. She pushed her hair out of her eyes again and sighed. “At least it’s nice to know you’re still around. I haven’t gotten any notice from you in three months. I thought you might have died.”

He shook his head and looked at her. “It’s… it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

Raven crossed her arms over her chest, staring at him. “How so?”

He shifted and sat down in a chair near the counter. “It was a… it was a mission gone wrong.” His eyes lifted to her own, expression softening around the edges, and for a moment it felt like he was seeing right through her and into her soul. “It wouldn’t have gone wrong if you were there. You always had a way of keeping up pulled together.” 

That stung after what they had just said to each other, but Damian had never been  _ tactful _ , so she chose not to take it personally. She pushed her hair out of her eyes again and shook her head. “I left that life years ago, Damian. Civilian life suits me now, and I don’t think my skills are exactly what they used to be. So, if this is another attempt to get me to come back to the team, you’re fresh out of luck.” 

“I’d hardly call selling spells and potions  _ civilian _ .” He arched an eyebrow and stared at her, a strange emotions filling his eyes. “You’re one of the most powerful sorceresses I know, Raven. Even if you only use your powers to cure limp dicks and heal broken hearts.”

“I do more than that.” He was  _ baiting _ her, trying to get her to admit that she didn’t like this life. Well, he was  _ wrong _ . She was perfectly happy in her little shop selling what little she could to people who needed it. She pursed her lips, and angry heat crawling up her neck. “You’re not exactly helping your case, Damian.  _ Get to the point. _ ”

“The mission went sideways. The rest of the team is fine, but I’m…” He trailed off, looking away. “I’m not. I’m not okay.” 

She leveled another stare at him, her eyes sweeping over his face. He turned and met her, keeping his expression blank. Raven took a step towards him. “So what happened? Why are you here now? And why  _ didn’t _ you go to Constantine?”

“It’s… it’s probably better to show you.” He sighed and shoved up the sleeve of his shirt, staring into her face as he presented his bare arm to her. 

No. Not bare.  _ Scarred _ .

Raven’s eyes fluttered, and any animosity she was trying to hold onto easily dissipated as she stared down into the  _ very specific _ scar on his forearm. Black lines wove like sinister vines over his deep, olive skin, following the paths of his veins. Her fingers reached out and she traced the ragged edges of the mark as it webbed in opposite directions from the puncture wound in his arm, towards his wrist and his elbow. It looked painful and invasive, and Raven knew that her anger towards him needed to be shelved for the time being. Right now, Damian was her friend and he needed her help.

“Damian, this is…” Her mind was racing and she looked up into his face, her fingertips feeling the heat rolling off his wound. He smelled of his usual spiced soap, but under that there was the lingering perfume of death starting to cling to him. “You’ve gotten worse. This wound isn’t  _ fresh _ .”

“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his head and looked away. “Yeah, I  _ know _ . I had tried to fix it myself, but… I’m not a sorcerer. And I couldn’t go to grandfather… he’d make me…” Damian trailed off, closing his eyes. Something slithered down his spine and he looked away. “Nevermind.” 

“I see why you  _ didn’t _ go to Constantine.” Raven pulled Damian’s sleeve back down over his arm, cocking her head to the side. “He would have put a stake right through your heart,  _ love _ .” Raven made a poor attempt at John’s accent, which only earned an annoyed glare from Damian.

“You’re not exactly helping my case.”

“I’m  _ exactly _ explaining your case.” She ran her hand through her hair and shook her head. “ _ Damian _ , you know better than to get messed up with these things. Reversing this isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to take me weeks to get this stain out of you… and I don’t know if I  _ can _ . You waited too long to reach out to me. Maybe if it was a new wound, I could help easily, but this… this is  _ deep _ . It’s already taking root in you.” She mentally counted days and weeks, trying to calculate how long it had been. Her eyes flicked to his face again, watching flecks of gold sparkle in his deep green irises. “Have you…” What  _ was _ the appropriate way to ask if he’d drank blood? “...quenched your thirst yet?”

He gave her another flat stare, lips pulling back in an almost-snarl. “ _ No _ . I’m not an idiot. I know better.” 

_ Whew. _ Well, at least they had that going for them. Thank goodness for small miracles. As long as he didn’t drink human blood, he wouldn’t turn just yet. They still had a chance to fix this before things got out of control, but their time was running out. She knew why Damian hadn’t come to her, but they should put their old conflicts aside. She let go of a sigh and leaned back from him, regarding him carefully. “Come on then, let’s see what I have to at least keep the effects at bay. I can at least stabilize you while I work through a cure.” 

She motioned for him to follow her, leading him through a side door and into her small workspace behind her storefront. A sterile, white light hung overhead, and jars and containers of raw materials were stacked neatly on metal shelves, some things inside the glass shifting towards Raven as she passed by them. One particular box on a bottom shelf moved slightly, catching Damian’s shocked stare.

He made a face. “You keep a dead cat in here?”

Raven sniffed. “Brahms is insulted by that, you know.”

As if realizing he was being talked about, Brahms opened his one eye and slowly lounged out of the box before jumping up onto Raven’s work table, his stump of a tail flicking. Raven scratched behind his notched ear and checked the still-healing scar along his belly, leading back to where his left hind leg had been. The scar had stopped oozing a few days ago and was now the pale pink of fresh skin. He was definitely getting better. 

“Someone hit him in the street outside, I just brought him here to heal.” Raven turned and pulled a few things off the shelves, chewing on her lower lip as she flipped through a book on her table. It was lucky she had all the ingredients she would need. The spell to  _ cure _ him was going to cost a small  _ fortune _ for all the ingredients, but at least this would keep the curse at bay for a little while longer. “He stuck around after I patched him up, and I don’t mind the company. In spite of his appearance, he’s sometimes relatively sweet.”

“I can see that.”

When Raven turned back around, he found Brahms rubbing up against Damian’s hand as Damian scratched under his chin. For a brief moment, Damian’s face seemed to lose its tension, and something almost like calm filled him. It was probably the most calm Damian had felt in weeks. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and Raven felt her heart turn over again. Brahms didn’t really like other people, but he had somehow warmed up to Damian instantly. Raven stood there and admired the scene for a few moments, pretending not to notice when Damian caught her stare. 

She set the ingredients down on her worktable, and Brahms jumped down, weaving through Damian’s legs a few times before disappearing through another door that lead upstairs. Damian watched her as she worked quietly for a few minutes, mixing a few things together and muttering a spell under her breath. The spell was a familiar one - to keep curses at bay, and she found her mind wandering through the familiarity of it all. Damian stood next to her, and for a while it felt like old times back at the tower - both of them working together, enjoying each other’s quiet company. It felt…  _ comforting _ , like something she had been missing for a long while. As angry as she was at Damian, she still appreciated his presence.

“I’m sorry.”

Raven’s hands stilled against her grinding wheel, and she turned to look at him. “What?”

“I’m sorry.” Damian’s voice was still, and he pressed his hand against the table, leaning closer to her. “For what happened at the tower. It was my fault and I… I thought I knew what was best then. I thought I knew what was going to make us a better team, and I didn’t. I didn’t know what I was doing at all, and I couldn’t admit it to myself or to you at the time. So, all I did was mess everything up, and I… I don’t know how to make it up to you. I don’t know how to fix it, except tell you I’m sorry a hundred times over.” 

“You’re apologizing and admitting to your mistakes, so that’s a start.” Raven cocked her head to the side and offered a thin, teasing smile, looking at him from beneath the shadows of her eyelashes. “You’ve got a long way to go, but at least you’re headed in the right direction. It’s more than yesterday.” She turned back to her work. “Now,  _ hush. _ I’m trying to concentrate on saving your life.” 

Damian shook his head, but a small smile tugged on his lips. He stayed quiet until Raven finished her work, his presence still welcoming and comforting. 

“Here. This won’t cure you, but it  _ will _ keep you stabilized until we can figure out a permanent cure. I have a few ideas for where to start, but I’ll need to do some more research.” She handed him a bowl of something thick and syrupy, like black ink coating the inside of the bowl. “Drink  _ all _ of this.”

His lips pulled back in a grimace and he sniffed it. “I don’t think I can  _ drink _ this.”

“Well, I don’t have cinnamon flavoring, so you’re going to have to make do.” She paused, a slight flush working up her neck as she realized she remembered that cinnamon was his favorite flavor. It had been years and she  _ still _ remembered little details about him. Damian lifted an eyebrow and she turned away, ignoring whatever feeling was twisting in her chest and putting things back on the shelves. She listened to him try and swallow as much as he could, sputtering between mouthfuls.

There was a slight pause and she looked back at him. “Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

He forced down another mouthful and coughed, wiping at his mouth. “N-no. I was going to rent a hotel room.”

“Mm.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Stay with me.” 

The air grew heavy and Damian stared at her, eyes wide with surprise. After they had just spent the better part of their evening being angry with each other, she was inviting him to stay the night. It was probably a bad choice, but having him next to her reminded her how much she liked having him around. Raven winced as she desperately searched for a sensible explanation, shoving unused herbs back into their respective canisters. “Hotels are busy places filled with easy prey. It’ll keep you from being tempted, and I can keep an eye on you overnight, and… and Brahms seems to like you. He’s an excellent judge of character.”

He paused, another sound of coughing filling the small space. “You don’t think it’s ironic that you named your cat  _ Brahms? _ ”

“In all fairness you’re the only…  _ night creature _ I’ve met.” She turned around and watched as he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand again, avoiding her stare. “I’ve never seen anyone else with the same curse as yours. And I thought it was fitting of a cat who somehow defied death.”

“Mm.” Damian set the now empty bowl on her work table. He rested his hands on the table and swallowed air, obviously weighing her offer. Finally he lifted his stare to her own, cocking his head to the side. “Alright, I’ll stay.”

“My apartment is small and I only have one bed.”  _ Why _ did she have to blurt that out? 

He lifted an eyebrow, as if not sure why that mattered. 

“Just so you’re aware. I don’t have an extra guest room. You’ll have to sleep in the armchair.” Raven ignored his expression and made her way to the back staircase, motioning for him to follow. “It’s nothing fancy, but Roy told me it’s comfortable enough. So, you should get a fairly good rest, especially if you’re tired enough.”

Damian made an odd noise in the back of his throat, as though that news upset him. “You’ve had Harper over?”

Raven nodded, glancing over her shoulder at him, but he avoided her stare. “And Tim. And Conner. And Cassie. And Gar. And Jason. And Dick and Kory. And Babs. And Steph. And Cass. And Garth. And-”

“I get it.” Damian growled, the sound rough as it escaped his throat. Shame seemed to color every part of him, and his head dipped in something akin to embarrassment. “I haven’t exactly been…  _ social _ these last few years. With anyone  _ outside _ of the team.” 

“They’re not usually  _ social _ calls, if that’s what you’re thinking. Kory and Dick maybe, but mostly my apartment is a safe haven for people who need it… or who don’t feel like they can go to John… or Zatanna.” Raven unlocked the door at the top of the stairs, and Brahms ran inside, followed by Raven and Damian. She flicked the light on, bathing her small studio in a soft glow. “My apartment is a place you can come if you need help. It’s how its always been.” 

“You have… books.” He glanced around the apartment. “A lot of them.” 

She glanced around the space, noting that nearly every wall was filled floor-to-ceiling with bookcases, each one shoved full of books. Most were tomes and scripts she needed for her work, but some were admittedly for pleasure. “I need most of those for what I do downstairs. There’s the chair.” She motioned to a large armchair shoved in the corner across from her bed and covered in blankets and throw pillow, with a plush ottoman in front of it. “The bathroom is to the left of the kitchen area. You can change and shower if you need to, I’m sure the trip was hard on you. I think I have one of your old shirts but…” She paused and gave him a once-over, snorting softly. “I doubt it still fits.”

Damian looked down at himself, as if he wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about. How could he have  _ not _ noticed how  _ big _ he’d gotten? Was he  _ that _ oblivious? He glared for a moment, as if insulted before cocking his head to the side, suddenly realizing something. “Why do you have one of my old shirts?”

“You gave it to me on a mission…” Raven turned to her stove and set the kettle on the heat. “I never had a chance to return it to you.”

Damian snorted, obviously not buying her story. “You had plenty of chances… you just chose not to.”

“So?” Raven glanced at him, a dark blush staining her cheeks. A few years ago she might have felt shame at clinging to her past, but now she realized it was part of who she was, and it was important to her to remember the home she had. If Damian found fault with that, then that was his concern, not hers. She looked away again, ignoring the sudden weight in the room. “It was comforting, and after a while it became a way for me to remember the home I had before.” 

Damian dropped his jacket onto a kitchen chair and wandered into the rest of her studio apartment. His steps stopped and he snorted, staring at the bed. “You have a  _ king size _ bed.”

“And?”

He turned back towards her, his face blank. “You’re telling me that you have a king size bed, that takes up  _ most _ of your bedroom area, and you still make your guests sleep in an armchair?”

“Not all my guests.” Raven smirked as she pulled two mugs out of the cupboard, setting them on the counter. She could afford to tease him just a little. “Steph usually sleeps with me. Sometimes Tim. He likes to cuddle.”

Damian glared at her, but she ignored it. “There are extra blankets stored in the ottoman if you need them.”

There was a long stretch of silence and she heard him pull out the blankets, setting up his space in the chair. Finally, Damian spoke again, still curious about the guests that stayed over. “So… you just have people over whenever?”

“Whenever they need it. Or whenever my services are required.” Raven poured near-boiling water over the tea in the mugs and turned back to him. “And you  _ definitely  _ need it.”

Damian looked at her. “But  _ Tim _ sleeps with you?”

“And Steph.”

His lips twitched, his thoughts racing. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, as if there was a question building on his lips that he  _ desperately _ wanted answers to. “So, do you…? With Tim or Steph?”

“That’s  _ none _ of your business, now is it? You haven’t seen me in years, and I’m a grown woman who is perfectly capable of making her own choices in life.” She gave him a teasing smirk, telling more secrets than truths, and walked over to him, shoving a mug of tea into his hand. “Lavender and chamomile. It’ll help you sleep tonight, and it’ll get the taste of the spell out of your mouth. I know it’s not pleasant.”

Damian took the tea cautiously and drank it. There was another stretch of silence and Raven pulled back the covers of her bed, Brahms finding space on the pillow beside her. She glanced over at Damian, her eyes curious. Damian looked uncomfortable and dejected, and she could sense something under his skin - something like jealousy and regret and sorrow and the roots of their friendship from Raven’s time at the tower. It all swirled together, a mess of emotions and feelings that he wasn’t sure how to contend with, and he struggled with understanding them and himself. Raven couldn’t find fault with that, not when he was working so hard to at least  _ try _ to be better. It  _ was _ a start, he just had to keep trying. 

“Just because you said you’re sorry it doesn’t absolve you of what happened at the tower.” She sighed and sat down across from him on the edge of the bed, looking into his face. He didn’t turn away from her, and she took that as a sign to continue. “I’m still mad at you. I  _ want _ to forgive you, Damian… but it’s not easy, and you have to give me time. I’m still healing, and you come back into my life after years of being out of it and… and it’s  _ hard _ . I’m helpless when it comes to you. I thought you would have learned that by now.”

Damian sighed and set the mug of tea down next to him. He looked for a long while like he wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind. Something was warring inside him, and he wasn’t sure which side of himself he should be on. A minute passed, and then two, and finally he turned away, running his fingers through his hair. “It’s late. We should… we should get to bed.”

Raven nodded and disappeared to the bathroom to change, when she came back Damian was already curled up in the armchair, his head tilted back as he started to drift to sleep. She stared at him for a long moment, her eyes drifting over his too-big-for-the-chair form, stretched out in an uncomfortable position with one foot hanging off the ottoman. Her heart turned over and she knew that she probably shouldn’t torture him any longer. She sighed and walked up to him, pulling the blanket off his chest. Damian opened one eye and glared, but Raven was unfazed.

“Get in bed.” She motioned to the bed behind her. ”And take off your trousers, you look ridiculous  _ and _ uncomfortable.” 

He blinked, a flush staining his cheeks. “I thought you-”

“Only Roy has to sleep in the chair because he’s  _ handsy _ in his sleep.” She sighed and shook her head. “Everyone else is welcome in my bed. It’s why I got a king in the first place. Steph kicks in her sleep, and a full wasn’t enough space to avoid it.” Her legs hurt just  _ thinking _ about it. “So go on, take off your pants and get into bed.”

Damian slowly undressed the rest of the way, and Raven tried not to admire his backside as he bent over. Tried, and failed.  _ Miserably. _ All those years of training had definitely done wonders. She flushed and looked away, crawling into her side of the bed to pull the covers over her shoulders. Brahms found his favorite spot on top of her head, and Damian finally sat down on the other side of the mattress, dressed in nothing more than his boxer briefs and his undershirt. She flushed again and rolled away from him. 

“Just stay over there on your side of the bed.”

She waited for a response, but there was only silence. When she glanced over her shoulder, he had already fallen into a deep sleep. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she backed up a few inches so that her back was brushing against his chest. His familiar warmth and scent of spiced soap filled her senses, and for a few minutes she felt like she was somewhere else. In a time before she had left the tower. 

“You should stay on your side of the bed too.”

Raven flushed and moved to pull away, but Damian curled a hand around her waist, drawing her back into his chest. Raven stilled, her cheeks flushed as she stared into the inky darkness around her. Brahms readjusted so that he was sitting on top of both of their heads. For the first time in a long time, Raven felt…  _ safe _ and comforted, and her eyes grew heavy as Damian’s fingers tangled in the folds of her t-shirt. 

A long silence stretched between them, and she had almost fallen asleep when she heard Damian murmur into her ear. 

“So…  _ did you? _ With  _ Steph? _ ”

Raven smirked. “Wouldn’t  _ you _ like to know?”

He scoffed, his breathing heavy. “Not really.”

“ _ Liar. _ ”


	2. Chapter 2

The late morning sun spilled through a half-open curtain, coating Damian in almost-warmth. He shifted, letting the scent of Raven’s shampoo and soap fill his senses. For a few moments, he could pretend this was one of the many nights they had stayed up too late talking, and they had fallen asleep together. Like they were back at the tower, he hadn’t made such a dumb decision, and everything was the way it had been before. His soul felt oddly at rest, even if his muscles sore and his head fuzzy. Last night had been the best night of sleep he’d gotten in weeks, and that gnawing, aching hunger he had been fighting seemed to ebb, just a little bit. 

His stomach turned over, reminding him that even though Raven had managed to stop the spread of the curse, he wasn’t cured yet. He still needed her help, even if it was something as simple as chasing the nightmares away. 

Lately, Damian’s dreams were usually voids of black stretching out all around him, that ever-present thirst clawing at him, whispering him to do things he could never return from. He had woken up more than one time biting his pillow, the points of his canines ripping through the fabric. But last night… last night he hadn’t dreamt at all. He had pulled Raven close to his chest, and it felt like everything faded away, the fear, the anger, the curse, and  _ that hunger. _

Although… now there was  _ a different _ kind of hunger he had to contend with. 

He groaned and his hand halfheartedly searched for the source of warmth he’d been holding all night.  _ Empty.  _ He cursed under his breath, prying open his eyes as his fingers tangled in cool sheets. His erection pressed against the confines of his underwear, a persistent annoyance he should go take care of. But not… not  _ here _ . Not in Raven’s apartment. That was a line he didn’t want to cross, not when she’d just welcomed him back into her life.

Damian ground his teeth together and closed his eyes again, burying his face into his pillow. He had known that seeing Raven after all their time apart would have made the feelings inside him rise up, but he hadn’t expected them to come back the way they did. He hadn’t expected to…  _ want her _ . Like  _ this _ . 

As if to remind him how much he really  _ did _ want her, his erection twitched again. Damian rolled onto his back, trying to will his body into submission, but he failed, and that need started to grow roots in the pit of his stomach. He ran his hand over his face and sighed. 

There had always been some part of him that had  _ hoped _ they would have ended up together, even if their foray into romance was temporary. Raven had been his best friend when they lived together, the one person he could go to when he needed someone to talk to, or just a person who understood the conflicted feelings inside him. But after Kory and Dick left, passing the responsibility on him, Damian felt like he needed to be better than his predecessors. He felt like he should have better control of the team, felt like he knew how to be a better and more efficient leader, and when he butt heads with Raven, he… 

Guilt swelled in his chest and he cursed under his breath, thinking of the day he let her pack her things and leave. At the time, he had framed it as her choice to walk away from the team. He thought that if Raven had wanted to leave, he wasn’t going to stop her, but he knew the truth now. He had driven her away, and no matter how many times she came to him looking for the friendship they had before, he treated her like a…  _ a coworker _ . 

He’d been such a damn idiot. How could he just kick her out like that? Treat her like she  _ hadn’t _ been a rock for him to cling to when they both struggled with everything? His feelings for Raven ran deep, and were complicated, and he couldn’t believe he had made her  _ leave. _ And yet she kept taking him back, mistake after mistake, letter after letter, she  _ still _ didn’t turn him away. And even when he stumbled through her front door with the curse of a vampire clinging to his skin, she still opened her home and her arms - like a  _ friend _ . 

Damian sighed and he stretched again, realizing that his  _ damn erection  _ still wouldn’t go away. He hadn’t had morning wood since he was a pre-teen going through puberty, and this was  _ embarrassing. _ He ran his fingers through his hair and stared at her ceiling, a small spot of jealousy threading between the guilt. How many of his friends and family had laid in this exact spot and stared at her ceiling? His lips twitched and he tried not to think about Raven being intimate with their friends, but in doing that, he started to fantasize about Raven being  _ with him _ , and that was somehow worse.

He ran a hand down his face, muttering curses. He had known her for the better part of eight years, and hadn’t even  _ kissed _ her, and now here he was thinking about how  _ good _ she would feel under his hands. He was thinking about how  _ soft _ she would feel, how her muscles would tremble and her eyes would widen as he-

_ Stop. _ That wasn’t why he was here. He wasn’t even sure if Raven was starting to forgive him for what he did all those years ago. 

Damian groaned and shoved the blankets off his body, slamming his feet on the floor and heading into her bathroom.  _ Not now. _ He didn’t need to be thinking about that with her. He didn’t need to think about  _ anything _ with her, except how grateful he was that she was accepting him back into her life and was helping him. 

He stared at his reflection in her mirror as he shed his clothing. The dark circles under his eyes weren’t as dark, and he didn’t look so stretched thin anymore. It was a wonder what a good night’s sleep could fix. His eyes slid down his chest, eyeing a new scar on his left side before seeing a tendril of black try to slither up his arm. He felt a shock of panic slice through his chest as the curse snapped back to the entry point of the wound. Raven had promised that she had stopped the spread of the curse, but she was right - his time was running short and he needed to find a cure  _ fast. _

The water warmed up, and as soon as he stepped into the shower, he could smell the residual scent of Raven’s shampoo and soap. That did  _ not  _ help. His erection reminded him that he was in need of  _ some kind _ of attention, and Damian had half a mind to finish himself off just to get rid of the tightness in his stomach. He could be quick and quiet… Damian shook his head and cursed, reaching for her bodywash. But,  _ not like this _ . Not here, in Raven’s shower. He cursed under his breath, and closed his eyes, letting the water slide over his skin, his mind wandering back to vague fantasies of Raven…

_Ah, hell._ _Not helping._ Damian growled and showered quickly, trying not to think about _any_ of that right now. He stepped out of the bathroom and dressed, before heading down stairs to her shop on the first level. As he made his way down the steps he felt an odd feeling of comfort and _home_ wash over him. Music was playing from a shitty speaker in the corner, some 90’s alternative song that Jason had probably turned her onto at one point. It was just another reminder of how much his friends was part of her life, but he somehow wasn’t. 

Damian leaned against the door jamb and stared at her back for a moment, feeling his heart swell with admiration, before speaking. “Good morning.”

She lifted her head up from her work, a tablet next to her showing what were orders had come in from the night before. The front of her shop had a carefully curated, old-world mystic vibe, but Raven ran her store like any other modern store - online orders and all. Her eyes swept down the length of him, and he watched as heat stained the tips of her ears. “Good morning, Damian. You slept late.” 

He blinked, hearing the slight strain in her tone, and the forced calmness of her voice made him wonder if maybe she had felt his…  _ unfortunate wake up call. _ That was  _ mortifying _ . He cleared his throat and looked away, pretending to be interested in a box of things stacked neatly by the wall. “I haven’t slept well in a few weeks… it was nice to feel…” His words drifted off and he shook his head. To feel  _ what? _ Comforted? He couldn’t tell her that. “I looked for coffee this morning, but all you have is lavender tea.”

“Mm. I usually get my caffeine fix by a shop around the corner.” Her eyes flicked back up to his for just a moment before returning to the work in front of her. “I’m finishing up some orders I got last night, and then we can head out.” 

Damian blinked. “Head out where?”

“To breakfast. You and I both need coffee, I haven’t eaten, and I  _ still _ can’t cook to save my life. Besides, we need to talk about our plan of attack.” Raven boxed up something that looked like loose-leaf tea and placed a shipping label on it. “I was doing some research this morning while you were sleeping. I’ve got a few things that can definitely help keep you and your hunger under control, but in order to completely cure you but we’ll need a plan, and we’ll need to go all over the world to pick up all the supplies.” She paused and glanced up at him again, crossing her arms over her chest. “And deep pockets.” 

“That’s not exactly a problem.”

“Good.” She flicked a lock of hair out of her eyes and leaned back on her heels. “I sort of figured it wouldn’t be.”

She boxed up one last order and dusted her hands off on her jeans. “How do you feel about a trip to the other side of the world? Bialya, specifically.”

Damian’s shoulders fell and he pitched forward, leaning his hands on her table. “You want to go  _ all _ the way to Bialya? What  _ for? _ ”

“Supplies. Magical components, mostly. And Markovia. We’ve got a few stops we’ll need to make, and a few people I’d rather not bargain with, but don’t really have a choice. Constantine leaves scorched earth in his wake, and I have to convince so many people that I’m  _ not like him. _ ” She snorted and waved at Damian. “Unless you’d rather we forego the treatment all together so you can stay that way? Fangs could be a good look on you.”

“ _ No. _ And  _ stop _ teasing me.” He sighed and dug a thumb into his temple, trying to ward off an on-coming headache. Leaving the country to go hunt down supplies sounded like a recipe for disaster, but they didn’t really have much choice. As much as it pained him to admit, Raven was right. If they needed to go to the other side of the world to pick up supplies, he could make it work. They needed to resolve this, and  _ soon _ . He was only going to get worse if he kept fighting her treatment. “I’ll get the jet. When did you want to leave?”

Raven blinked. “The  _ jet? _ ”

“Yes.” He scoffed. “I’m not flying commercial.”

She smirked, her head leaning to the side as she watched him. “Well, I was just going to open a portal there. But if you’d rather we  _ fly _ …”

Damian winced, knowing his head was anywhere but here in this conversation. He hadn’t had Raven on his team in years, and he sometimes forgot about the convenience that came with her powers. “You don’t have to tease me.”

“Ah, but you make it so  _ easy _ , Damian.” She paused, her smile fading just a little as her stare swept over him again, landing on his arm. The air turned thick and heavy again, and she motioned him closer to her. “Come here. Let me see your arm. I need to see how the spell took last night.” 

Raven took his arm gingerly in her hands, pushing the sleeve of his shirt up and tracing the black lines of the wound. Her touch was warm, almost soft and exploratory, and it burned right into Damian’s core. He felt his heart slam against his ribs and he leaned closer to her, taking a long drag of her scent like he was trying to memorize every part of her. She smelled of her soap and shampoo, and the herbs and tonics she’d been working with all morning, and he felt almost dizzy with the sudden rush of sensation. Damian found himself wondering what it would be like to bury his face into the soft curve of her neck and just… just  _ taste her. _

_ Stop. _ Those were dangerous thoughts, and he knew that. 

“How have you been feeling?” She pushed his sleeve higher, completely unaware of his inner turmoil and examining him. “How’s your…  _ hunger? _ Is there anything changing? Any new symptoms we should be aware of?”

“No. Nothing has changed…. I feel  _ better, _ actually.” He looked down into her face, his stare tracing the curve of her lips. “I’m fine, as far as I can tell.” 

“Mm.” She placed her palm over the black spot on his arm and whispered something under her breath, the words bubbling up between strange sounds in her throat. Damian could feel the heat from the infected skin start to ebb again, cooling his skin and keeping that gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. But it almost seemed to be replaced with something else entirely. He kept staring into Raven’s focused face, feeling every emotion rise up and nearly strangle him. His attraction to her, his desire and need, his fascination with who she was, his guilt for what happened, his anger at himself - everything was suddenly so overwhelming that it seemed as if Damian’s heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest. 

But still… he couldn’t find it in him to pull away. Not when she was touching him with delicate strokes and soft words that sounded almost like poetry. 

Did he have new symptoms?  _ No. _ But a desire to sink his teeth into her neck while he made love to her?  _ Yes. _ His erection started to press against his pants again, and he stepped back, taking his arm with him. Voice low, he glared at her from behind the shadows of his lashes. “I’m  _ fine _ . Stop babying me like I’m a child.”

“Alright.” Raven blinked, and it felt like she was looking past his armor to his tender spots underneath. She was  _ always  _ like this - like she could pull apart every part of him until he was raw in front of her. Their time apart hadn’t removed that particular skill from her arsenal. She turned away from him, picking up her workspace again. “If you say so.”

_ Damnit _ . He should have been smarter about what he said to her. 

“Rae!”

Damian didn’t have a chance to even think about how to apologize when the familiar voice slipped into the small space. He whipped around to see Wally West standing in the doorway near the shop.

“Ah, my delivery truck has arrived.” Raven gave him a warm smile, and Wally came in to kiss her on the cheek, and Damian bit back an annoyed growl. Was that kind of a greeting  _ really _ necessary? Raven handed Wally two packages with a small smile. “I have two that need to be same-day delivery, and the rest I’m just sending through the mail.” 

“And?” 

Raven handed him a small package of his own. “And your usual payment.” 

“You’re the best!” His eyes seemed to finally notice that Damian was standing across from them both. There was a long stretch of silence as they both stared at each other, until Wally finally spoke. “Damian  _ Wayne? _ ”

He scoffed, still thinking about Wally’s lips on Raven’s cheek. “Who  _ else _ would it be?” 

“Ah, come on, Dami! We haven’t seen you in years!” Wally grinned and pitched forward, his voice brimming with excitement. “How’s the rest of the team doing? I heard there was some trouble in Markovia a few weeks ago, but… you look alright. Actually, you’re looking pretty good for someone who’s been avoiding people like the plague.”

Damian’s lips twitched and he looked over at Raven, as if needing to confirm her presence to bring himself at least a little bit of comfort. He shifted and kept his face blank and unreadable. “Everything is fine.”

“Actually, we’re going to be gone for a few days, Wally. Do you think you can get Jinx to watch the shop for a few days?” Raven’s voice made Wally turn to look over at her. “I won’t be taking any special orders until I get back, so sales should just be mostly love charms, hangover cures, and sleeping draughts. All things she has the ability to handle.”

“You two going out on a date?” His eyes widened, as if something was finally clicking in his head He snapped his fingers and cursed.. “Are you  _ finally _ getting together? Ah, man! I had money on late-20’s. Jinx wins again.”

Damian blanched. “What in the world are you  _ talking _ about, West?”

He shrugged, unfazed by either Damian’s or Raven’s reactions. “I mean, we always figured you and Raven would end up together. You guys were practically attached at the hip when you lived in the tower. I mean, you were  _ always _ spending time together.” He snorted and gave Damian a teasing grin. “But we also figured  _ you _ were too emotionally constipated to tell Raven that you liked her, so we took bets on when you would grow up enough to finally admit that you have feelings for her. My bet was late-20’s, and I guess I was wrong.”

Raven flushed and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him. “ _ Wally _ . That’s not funny, and it’s  _ stupid _ . Like something out of a bad K-drama. We’re  _ not _ getting together. Damian asked me for help with something and I’m helping. End of story, no secret agenda, no…  _ romantic confessions _ .”

“ _ Really? _ ” Wally’s eyes widened, as if he didn’t really expect that answer from her. “Not even like a quick bone? I mean you guys were  _ so close.  _ And you’re just going to skip out on-” 

“ _ West. _ ” Damian growled out a low warning, his eyes growing dark. He could feel his anger start to rise, spiced with his own embarrassment. “Shut up, and stop being such an unruly ass. Keep your nose out of our business, or so help me, I will  _ end you. _ ”

Wally grinned at him, somehow unintimidated by Damian’s warning. “Ah, yes. There’s the Damian Wayne we all know and love.” 

“If you’re both done measuring your dicks, can I finish?” Raven slammed her hand on the table, effectively stopping a fight from breaking out. She glared at both of them, and Wally at least had the good sense to look a little sheepish. Damian just glared and turned away. Raven turned back to Wally. “Jinx has her key, so she can come over at her normal time to check on the shop, and feed Brahms. We should be back in a week or so. I’ll keep you updated if our time extends beyond what we anticipated.”

Wally shrugged. “Alright. I’ll let Jinx know.” He paused at the door and offered a sly smile. “Have  _ fun _ you two. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Damian snarled, uncertain. “That leaves very little, West. Since you’re somehow  _ always _ finding trouble.” 

Raven rolled her eyes. “Thank you again, Wally.” 

“Anything for you, Rae.” He kissed her cheek again and in a flash of wind, he was gone.

Damian glared at the spot Wally had been standing. His mind raced, thoughts turning this way and that as jealousy seemed to claw its way into his stomach. He thought about Wally’s kiss, and he thought about the casual way he touched her, and he thought about that  _ knowing smile _ when he talked about…  _ that _ . It made Damian feel like his control over the situation was slipping, that maybe Raven  _ didn’t _ like him the same way she liked everyone else in her life. Maybe he  _ wasn’t _ the kind of person she invited into her bed. And maybe he wouldn’t  _ ever _ be. Certainly not as a blood-sucking parasite. 

His eyes narrowed and he turned back towards her. “Also one of the people allowed to sleep over?”

“Wally has only stayed over once, and he did sleep in my bed.” Raven lifted an eyebrow, unfazed by the sharp edge to his voice. “Are you jealous, Damian? Of other people sleeping with me?”

“ _ No _ .” He huffed out an annoyed breath, desperately trying to bury his feelings before they took over. “I’m not jealous at all. What you do in your private space is none of my business and it doesn’t concern me.”

“Mm…” The silence settled between them again, and she returned to putting her things away. “You  _ do _ know it’s just sleeping, right? I don’t have room for two beds and all my books in the space, so… I made choices. Besides, I’m told I’m comforting when I sleep.” 

“And Drake and Brown?”

She smirked. “Well, hands  _ have _ been known to wander…” 

Damian’s face fell. “So you  _ did _ …”

Raven just turned away from him again, staying perfectly silent. 

“You’re never going to tell me the truth, are you?”

“No. Probably not.” She pushed at her hair, a small teasing smile on her lips. “You’re just going to have to keep guessing.”

Looking at her like this made his head spin, made him remember all the times they had spent together, all the things that made him realize she needed to be a part of his life. He felt confused and broken all at once, like he knew where he wanted to go, but wasn’t entirely sure if he knew how to get there. Only that he needed Raven next to him. No matter what happened to him, he knew he could weather it with Raven next to him. She made him feel… not so alone anymore. 

His fingers started to reach for her, but he pulled his hands back, taking a long, slow breath. He hadn’t earned her back yet, and that was one thing he needed to keep reminding himself: 

_ Earn her back first.  _

“Come on.” Without pausing, Raven slipped her hand in his and started for the back door, tugging him along. “Let’s go get breakfast.”


End file.
